MUSCAT: Leading Omani developer Omagine is in talks with a major Qatari bank to secure funding for the first phase of its ambitious mixed-use tourism and real estate project in Muscat estimated to cost $2.5bn, said a report.
The company’s US-based majority shareholder, Omagine Inc, stated in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it has received a term sheet from the unnamed Qatari lender setting out the terms covering the provision of $25m loan to finance the first phase of the project, business portal Trade Arabia reported.
The scope of work in the first phase includes the masterplanning, design, engineering and construction work necessary for vertical construction besides the administrative, financial and marketing activities for the implementation of Omagine LLC’s business plan.
The work on Phase One is likely to start over the next 10 to 12 months. According to the report Omagine LLC is attempting to arrange the Qatari Bank Loan to finance the First Phase.
The lavish development, which will adorn the waterfront at Seeb, is proposed to feature a mix of hotels, retail shops, restaurants, office space, open air amphitheatre and stage, exhibition venues, harbour and marina, and more than 2,000 residential units.
The centrepiece is a high culture theme park consisting of seven pearl-shaped buildings each with a different theme, such as the Innovation Pearl, The Energy Pearl, and the Culture Pearl. The pearls will feature motion ride experiences, simulations, games, interactive demonstrations, and possibly a planetarium and aquarium.
The New York-based Omagine Inc has a 60 percent shareholding in Omagine LLC, which is also owned by Royal Court Affairs of Oman (25 percent), and two subsidiaries of Consolidated Contractors International Company SAL (15 percent).